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I expected the Vikings to win on Sunday. Not just because I thought they’d have an advantage against an offense led by Nick Foles (THEY DID NOT). Why did I really think that? Because they’re the Vikings, and nobody crushes their fans like the Minnesota Vikings. Not the Bills, with their years of mediocrity. Not the Browns, who you know are always terrible. It’s the Vikings, who are just good enough to give their fans hope, and then crush it in spectacular ways.

So, I asked myself, what’s the most Vikings way you can lose? I’d at first expected them to go to the Super Bowl at home, have a solid lead, and then lose to a last-minute Tom Brady drive so they could be crushed right at the end of the game. That seemed perfect, but . . . I think what happened was as Vikings as Vikings could be. You had the amazing Minneapolis Miracle. You had a week of hope and destiny and THIS IS THE YEAR. You go into Philadelphia, march down the field, and score easily. There’s the hope, just building, and then . . . utter humiliation. Everything goes wrong, you get destroyed. I think it’s even worse than the last-minute loss, because, in that case, you at least got close. You have some respect for that. This? This craps on the arguably greatest moment in franchise history in Diggs’ amazing catch, and every Packers fan I know is having the best sports week they’ve had in years.

As for the game itself, yes, I expected a Vikings win, largely because I didn’t figure the Eagles would be able to completely stonewall that defense. What’s very weird is the Eagles really didn’t have that great of an offensive line this year; Football Outsiders ranks that line as 29th in pressure rate allowed, 12th in adjusted sack rate, and 22nd in adjusted line yards. In other words, the line wasn’t that great, it’s just that Carson Wentz’s mobility helped hide the deficiencies of the line. So how did that line control what was one of the best defenses in the league in Minnesota last weekend? Coaching, apparently; Philadelphia offensive linemen were intentionally pointing out incorrect blitzers pre-snap in order to make the defense think they had an advantage. Nick Foles had ridiculous amounts of time to throw, and the Vikings never seemed to get close to him. Match that with the domination of the Eagles’ excellent defensive line, and the Vikings got their butts kiiiiiiicked.

Patriots-Jaguars

I’d like to congratulate the Jacksonville Jaguars for playing well all year, and then insult them for curling into a tiny little ball in terror rather than finishing the season as they began.

A certain Jacksonville fan on this site (OK, there’s really only one of them . . . not sure if it’s on this site or just there is literally one Jacksonville fan) mentioned in an earlier thread that, based on the relative successes of the Jaguars and Rams, Sean McVay shouldn’t be a complete lock for Coach of the Year considering the job Doug Marrone did. That was actually a valid point.

Until there were 55 seconds left in the first half.

Two timeouts. At worst 40 yards for a vaguely realistic FG attempt. 55 seconds is a lifetime in that case with the number of clock stoppages you could potentially have. And Jacksonville kneeled on it. Against the greatest QB and coach combo in NFL history, on the road, and they kneeled on it.

I mean, I know Bortles is Bortles, but good GOD, man. That’s “Mike Martz refusing to run Marshall Faulk against the Patriots” or “Bill Callahan not bothering to change the playcalls against the Bucs” kind of big game bad coaching. Kyle Shanahan makes fun of those calls. That’s an insanely bad call now, and there can’t be anyone who wasn’t shocked on some level by it. I know Bortles sucks, but, seriously, that was ridiculous.

Also blah blah blah Brady Amendola and NO I DON’T THINK THERE WAS A CONSPIRACY SHUT UP GURU.

The fundamental story of this game is Doug Marrone played to not lose, and tried to get conservative against Belichick, who is known for being great at halftime adjustments. Everything that worked in the first half stopped working in the second, and the Jaguars turtled up.

I’m all for thinking outside the box, but Jalen Ramsey in consistent zone coverage is a war crime of stupid. Literally, my first search for the headline image was “Doug Marrone fetal position”, but (A) there not surprisingly wasn’t one, and (B) it’s not worth the effort to make one. I also considered “Eagles take a giant dump on Minnesota” but I’m writing this on a work laptop and . . . yeah, no.

I just want to remind the Jaguars they were moments from the Super Bowl with Blake Bortles, and he is totally worth that long-term extension. Kirk who?

So, the Super Bowl. . .

One could argue I have been overly harsh and/or pessimistic about Nick Foles; outside his one great season, he’s been marginal at best, though there’s a certain degree of Jeff Fisher Effect going on there. He played OK vs. the Falcons and was simply great against the Vikings; do I need to start giving him credit?

Nope. I have a hard time imagining him having the time to throw he did against the Vikings, and I’d expect the Patriots to clamp up on shorter timing throws. Stephon Gilmore spent the first few weeks of the season as a giant, expensive anchor around that defense, but turned it around to be completely worth his contract (and that was even before his ridiculous 4th down pass defense last week). While I think the Eagles defensive line is definitely better than the Patriots line, playcalling and Tom Brady can account for that to a certain extent. I would just tend to think the Patriots defense can get to Nick Foles, and I don’t think we’ll see the same QB we saw last week.

Final Score:

Patriots 27, Eagles 17

"I would be insulted if I could figure out exactly what it means."
--*Legion*

Dearest mother —I write with most distressful news. The men have been hoodwinked. The deserter McDaniels is on the lamb, likely headed toward New England, my best scouts report. Was this a ploy to merely spy? We shall never know. Irritating.— Andrew

GM Chris Ballard has some work to do. They supposedly have 2-3 interviews lined up, apparently they had some suspicion that this could happen.

They previously expressed interest in interviewing Chiefs special teams coach Dave Toub, and I don't think that interview ever happened, so I'd bet money he's one of those interviewees-to-be.

They also requested to interview fired Seahawks DC Kris Richard, and there was a date for that interview, but if it actually went through, it seems to have been done quietly. He's a good bet for one of the other interviewees in wait.

Other options include the Eagles staff. You've got OC Frank Reich, QB coach John DeFilippo (who practically every team with an opening had on their radar), and even DC Jim Schwartz (ehhhh, really?).

The Colts were interested in fired Seahawks OC Darrell Bevell for the OC job under McDaniels, and apparently they are now considering him a candidate for the head coaching job (ehhhh, really?).

Going deeper, Arizona interviewed Patriots linebackers coach Brian Flores, so if Indy wants a little payback on New England, they could look at poaching him instead. Arizona interviewed Mike Munchak too. Both of the Lions' coordinators, Teryl Austin and Jim Bob Cooter, interviewed for that team's job.

We also have the retreads. Jim Caldwell was fired from the Lions, maybe a Caldwell Face return to Indy? Jack Del Rio is a year removed from a turnaround season with Oakland, but he looks like he might be destined to be Pat Shurmur's defensive coordinator for the G-Men. I've even seen some left field suggestions, like Tony Dungy returning to coaching to take over Indy. But by far my favorite retread idea... Bruce Arians.

My prediction? I think it's Dave Toub or John DeFilippo. Since they're apparently keeping the defensive coordinator that McDaniels wanted, I don't think a defensive head coach makes sense. Toub and Ballard crossed paths when Ballard was in Kansas City. DeFilippo is the kind of young rising offensive guy that the Colts want to pair with Andrew Luck (provided he's not in fact a corpse, which may or may not have factored into McDaniels' willingness to make the big 180). I'd round out my top 3 most likely candidates with Darrell Bevell, although I don't understand it, but they are expressing direct interest in him, so, I guess.

My dark horse is Arians. I'm not convinced that retirement was 100% his idea, but if Arizona was nudging him out, he wasn't going to go start over from scratch somewhere else. Going back to Indy with Luck (maybe) could be a different story. Not the most likely, but my longshot pick.

I keep watching that to see if he might have had the angle had he just gunned it to the sideline.

I think he could have just cut and dived on the inside no problem. The defenders momentum was going towards the sideline. Jumping was definitely not the right move either way.

Yeah, well the proof of that pudding is in the eating (or the face planting as it may be). But I wonder if there was a scenario where he could have gotten the two yards. He didn't make the cut early enough to be the inside guy and the lead defender looked like he had the sideline cut off depending on their relative speed.

After watching that game I think the Patriots lack of pass rush and defensive talent in general got super exposed. It's been like this all season but the Eagles really were aggressive and took it to them where other teams were more conservative. It probably didn't help that they sat Butler (who played 98% of snaps in the regular season) and the Eagles O-line was phenomenal (I think the real MVP).

Next year the Pats linebackers will get a boost with Hightower but the corners will get a downgrade when Butler moves on. They also are in major need of a successor to Brady. Should be an interesting draft.

Congrats to the Eagles. Well deserved.

Paleocon wrote:

EvilDead wrote:

Paleocon wrote:

I keep watching that to see if he might have had the angle had he just gunned it to the sideline.

I think he could have just cut and dived on the inside no problem. The defenders momentum was going towards the sideline. Jumping was definitely not the right move either way.

Yeah, well the proof of that pudding is in the eating (or the face planting as it may be). But I wonder if there was a scenario where he could have gotten the two yards. He didn't make the cut early enough to be the inside guy and the lead defender looked like he had the sideline cut off depending on their relative speed.

He is real quick on his feet. I think the inside would have worked and possibly the outside. At the least it would have given him a chance to try to break a tackle. Unfortunately it is impossible to accelerate when your legs are 4 feet off the ground

It's good tackling, one of the rare instances of it in this game (and in the whole league, tbh). See how the defender comes in with his head up? He's looking to wrap up a smaller guy short of the sticks, not knock him back to Pro Bowl Weekend (like the trailing defender on the play, sigh). I think Cooks figured that most guys would have just gone at him head first and he'd just fly over top. Joke's on him, though.

According to a report from Bill Burt of local Massachusetts newspaper The Eagle-Tribune, Gronkowski is thinking about giving up football to pursue a career in acting. Gronk has supposedly spoken with Hollywood legends Sylvester Stallone and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who told him they believe he could make millions if he starred in action films.

It all seems a bit silly, but the next paragraph is where the nugget of reality is, I think:

Burt also reports that Gronkowski has told friends that injuries have taken a toll on him, which makes sense. With the concussion that knocked him out of the AFC Championship Game, Gronkowski has now suffered just about every significant injury a football player can have. The 28-year-old has torn his ACL, broken his arm and undergone back surgery on three different occasions since college.

The beating he has taken is absurd, and given that he's made money and has 2 rings already, it won't be a shock at all for him to pull a Calvin Johnson and bail.

Also, a Gronk retirement lends more fuel to the fire that Belichick might be retiring much sooner than we all think. I won't be surprised if McDaniels is the head coach next season.

Like Legion said, Gronk has the money, titles, and fame a professional career can bring. If leaves right now, his next 50 years arguing to be much better than if he tries to play another five. And with the squabbles over Brady, Belichick and Kraft, it probably is a good time to just make a clean break.

We'll see if he can act. But he made an appearance on Top Chef (where he and Padme heated stuff up), and I can see him going to the reality TV path. He could do something like Norman Reedus' Ride, and make bank for going on vacation and partying. That sounds more like a Gronk post football career move.

Henry Standing Bear: It is a beautiful day at the Red Pony and continual soiree.

Castiel: I suggest we imbibe copious amounts of alcohol and just wait for the inevitable blast wave.

He's a big goof. He only stands to lose more of his brain cells. He's on 8m 9m for the next two years. He could easily transition into some other job and still be relatively very well off. Its not like he would be retiring from QB money.

I think it's already becoming apparent that the NFL is suffering from a skills position gap players that arnt QBs that are protected by the rules + on better money.

The prediction was this would trickle down to the average future talent. It's already happening.